Pre-marinade vs post-marinade for sous vide meats?

[torolover]

I like to sous vide large batches of tough cuts such as pork belly and short ribs for 12-48 hours and then freeze them.  I usually cook them without marinade.  This way, depending on my mood, I can change the marinade/flavor any time I take them out of the freezer.

 

Do marinades penetrate the meat differently when they are raw vs cooked meat?

 

Any disadvantages of marinading after I sous vide?  

 

Thanks!

Edited September 1, 2014 by torolover (log)

[FeChef]

From experience, i have only noticed benefit from brining for long periods raw. I tried brining while long cooking via sous vide and was not pleased with results. For one, its hard for flavor to go in while cooking causes liquids to come out.

 

I could see this only benefit something over cooked like say reconsituting beef jerky. Then a marinate would absorb. But a perfectly cooked steak to lets say 132F, i highly doubt any marinade would penetrate the surface.

[torolover]

From experience, i have only noticed benefit from brining for long periods raw. I tried brining while long cooking via sous vide and was not pleased with results. For one, its hard for flavor to go in while cooking causes liquids to come out.

 

I could see this only benefit something over cooked like say reconsituting beef jerky. Then a marinate would absorb. But a perfectly cooked steak to lets say 132F, i highly doubt any marinade would penetrate the surface.

Why would a marinade not penetrate the surface of an already cooked steak in the fridge?

 

 Still curious why would marinading raw meat in the fridge be different then marinading already sous vide cooked meat IN THE FRIDGE?

 

Another question, for tough cuts, would marinading DURING 24 hour sous vide be different then marinading POST cooked 24 hour sous vide IN THE FRIDGE?

[gfweb]

A marinade or brine will flavor but probably not tenderize cooked meat very well as the fibers are already contracted by cooking and can't absorb as much.